The Disciplinary Board was established to provide a procedure for investigating, evaluating and acting upon complaints alleging unethical conduct by attorneys licensed in North Dakota. The Rules of Professional Conduct are the primary guide for lawyer conduct and the North Dakota Rules for Lawyer Discipline provide the procedural framework for the handling and disposition of complaints. The Joint Attorney Standards Committee studies and reviews issues concerning attorney discipline.

When a written complaint alleging attorney misconduct is received, it is filed with the Board's secretary and referred to the District Inquiry Committee East, West, or Northeast of the State Bar Association. The chair of the respective committee reviews the complaint and, if appropriate, assigns the complaint for investigation to a member of the committee or staff counsel. If the complaint, on its face, does not indicate misconduct, an investigation will not be initiated and the matter will be referred to the committee for summary dismissal. Actions available to district inquiry committees are dismissal, issuing an admonition, probation with the consent of the respondent attorney, or directing that formal proceedings be instituted.

Formal proceedings are instituted when a petition for discipline is filed which outlines the charges against the attorney. A hearing panel is appointed by the chair of the Disciplinary Board to consider the petition and other evidence regarding it, make findings and a recommendation, and enter appropriate orders. Present and past members of the Board may serve as hearing panel members. Recommendations of the hearing panel which do not result in dismissal, consent probation, or reprimand are filed directly with the Supreme Court. The Court's standard of review in these instances is de novo on the record. The hearing panel may enter orders of dismissal, consent probation or reprimand; however, they are subject to a petition for review that is filed with the Court. This petition must show that the panel acted arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.

Non-lawyer citizens are members of the District Inquiry Committees and the Disciplinary Board. All members of the Board and the Inquiry Committees are volunteers and are asked to review what, at times, can be very time-consuming matters. While many complaints are dismissed as groundless, the amount of volunteer time needed to run the system is significant.

Following is a summary of complaint files under consideration in 2001.

New Complaint Files Opened in 2001

167

General Nature of Complaints:

Client Funds & Property

Conflict of Interest

Criminal Convictions

Disability/Incapacity to Practice Law

Excessive Fees

Failure to Communicate/Cooperate with Client

Improper Conduct

Incompetent Representation

Misappropriation/Fraud

Neglect/Delay

Petition for Reinstatement

Unauthorized Practice of Law

25

9

0

1

6

6

74

33

1

9

1

2

TOTAL

167

Formal Proceedings Pending From Prior Years

22

Other Complaint Files Pending From Prior Years

59*

Appeals Filed with Disciplinary Board in 2001

17

Appeals Filed with Supreme Court in 2001

1

Total Files for Consideration in 2001

266

Disposition of Complaint Files:

Dismissed by Inquiry Committees

Summary Dismissals by Inquiry Committees

Admonitions Issued by Inquiry Committees

Consent Probation by Inquiry Committees

Disciplinary Board Approves IC Dismissal

Disciplinary Board Disapproves IC Disposition

Disciplinary Board Approves IC Admonition

Disciplinary Board Approves Consent Probation

Dismissal by Hearing Panel

Reprimand by Hearing Panel

Reprimand by Supreme Court

Suspensions by Supreme Court

Formal Proceedings Pending 12/31/00

Other Complaint Files Pending 12/31/00

96

50

18

2

16

1

3

1

6

3

1

5

23

42

TOTAL

267**

*Incorrectly reported on last year's report due to technical difficulty.